Baths of Diocletian
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2008-04-10T16:53:18Z
Peterlewis
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{{unsourced|date=November 2007}}
[[Image:Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri.jpg|thumb|The basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, built in the ''tepidarium'' of the baths]]
[[Image:San Bernardo alle Terme-facciata.jpg|thumb|The church of San Bernardo alle Terme recycled an old circular tower at the southwestern corner of the perimeter wall of the baths, one of four towers defining its grounds.]]
The '''Baths of Diocletian''' (''Thermae Diocletiani'') in [[Ancient Rome|Rome]] were the grandest of the public baths, or ''[[thermae]]'' built by successive emperors. [[Diocletian]]'s Baths, dedicated in [[306]], were the largest and most sumptuous of the imperial baths and remained in use until the aqueducts that fed them were cut by the [[Goths]] in [[537]]. Similar in size and plan to [[baths of Caracalla|those]] of [[Caracalla]] and oriented to the southwest so that [[solar energy]] heated the [[caldarium]] without affecting the [[frigidarium]], they are well preserved because various parts later were converted to ecclesiastical or other use, including:
*Basilica of [[Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri]] (in the ''[[tepidarium]]''), whose three soaring transept vaults provide one of the few glimpses of the original splendor of Roman building
*the church of [[San Bernardo alle Terme]] (in one of the two circular rooms)
*in the main hall, part of the [[National Museum of Rome#Baths of Diocletian|Museo Nazionale Romano]] (National Roman Museum)
*the 'octagonal aula', also now part of the National Roman Museum.
Other remains of the baths are visible several streets away.
==See also==
*[[Baths of Caracalla]]
*[[Baths of Titus]]
*[[Baths of Trajan]]
== Compared to the Baths of Caracalla ==
The Baths of Diocletian accommodated 3,000 bathers, almost twice as many as the Baths of Caracalla, being approximately twice its size.
==External links==
{{commons-inline|Thermae of Diocletian}}
*[http://www.roman-empire.net/tours/rome/baths-diocletian.html Baths of Diocletian]
*[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/romanurbs/bathsdiocletian.html Baths of Diocletian] at Encyclopaedia Romana
*[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Thermae_Diocletiani.html Thermae Diocletiani], article in Platner's Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?q=rome&ll=41.903267,12.497431&spn=0.004802,0.012730&t=k&hl=en Satellite image] of the baths.
[[Category:4th century architecture]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman baths in Rome|Diocletian]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman baths]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman architecture]]
[[de:Diokletiansthermen]]
[[es:Termas de Diocleciano]]
[[fr:Thermes de Dioclétien]]
[[it:Terme di Diocleziano]]
[[he:מרחצאות דיוקלטיאנוס]]
[[hu:Diocletianus termái]]
[[nl:Thermen van Diocletianus]]
[[pl:Termy Dioklecjana]]
[[pt:Termas de Diocleciano]]
[[sv:Diocletianus termer]]